Fastening device



Aug. 6, 1940. A. FRIDOLPH 2,210,287

' FASTENING DEVICE Filed 001;. 6, 19-39 M M O L W W ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 6, 1940 PATENT ,orFlcs FASTENING DEVICE Annette Fridolph, New

York, N. Y., assignor to A. B. A. Specialties Company. Inc., New York, -N. Y., a corporation of New York p 7 Application October 6,

1:. I 7 Claims.

Y This invention relates to a fastening device, and has to do particularly with a fastening device of the buckle type. I It is an object of the present invention to provide a fastening device for fastening together two adjacent edges of a garment, shoe or similar article, wherein the connecting together of the two adjacent parts by means of a fastening device is a, simple operation formed without the necessity of placing any great strain or pressure upon' the parts to be connected together. A further feature of the invention is thevprovisionof a fastening device, parts of which may be connected together and the arrangement of which parts is such that when the fastening is completed, additional tension in drawing together the, parts will be effected, as particularly contrasted to many types of buckles and fastening structure wherein the parts to be fastened are slightly 5? loosened at the completion of the fastening operation.

More specifically, the present invention contemplates a fastening device including a buckle of the apertured or hooked type, and a flexible member secured to one of the parts to be fastened and having a relatively stifl clip or head portion adapted to cooperate with the aperture or hook of the buckle so that when the buckle is moved home into closed position, the flexible fastening member will be effective to place relative tension upon the parts to be held in position by the fastening device.

Another object of the invention has to do with the provision of a buckle head so designed as to permit an .easy joining of the individual members of the buckle and to prevent wrinkling and edge abrasion or tearing of a flexible portion on one of the flexible strap portions.

Other features of the invention have to do with details of construction and arrangement such as will be more clearly set forth in the specification and claims.

' In the drawing: Fig. 1 is an elevation of one form of buckle 45 adapted for use with my fastening device. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 5 are elevations of modified forms of buckles for use as a part of my fastening device.

7 Figs. 4 and 6 are sectional views taken on lines 4-4 and 66 of Figs-Band 5, respectively.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a buckle of the type shown in Fig. 1 secured to one edge of thearticle or garment to be fastened and also 1939, Serial No. 298,296"

showing a flexible fastening member secured to another edge of the article or garment to be fastened, the head or clip of the flexible fastening member being inserted in place in the aperture in the buckle. I

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Fig; 7 but illustrating the step of assembling the fastening device and placing the flexible fastening mem her under tension.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Figs. 7 and 8 but 10 showing the buckle moved to complete fastening position, the fastening member being placed under tension and the two parts of the garment or similar article being secured in relative fastening position. i g

Fig.1!) is a view similar to Fig. 9 but illustrating the use of an adjustable type buckle wherein the head of the fastening member may be placed to either one of two positions.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the assembled fastening device as shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 12'isa sectional view similar to Fig. 7 but illustrating a still'further modified form of buckle structure' i Fig. 13 illustrates a buckle similar to that shown in Fig. l with a modified contour to effect ease of assembly.

The fastening device of the present invention preferably is formed'of two parts, one part a buckle unitwhich may be generally designated 2, and the other "part a fastening member which may be generally designated 3. Referring to the buckle unit'as shown in Fig. l, for the purposes of illustration, this comprises an attaching part 4 with prongs 5 to permit securing of the buckle member 2 to the edge of a garment, shoe or the like, such as shown at 6 in Fig. 7.

The buckle unit 2 comprises an apertured part 'I' having spaced ends 2a and 2b, and preferably connected to the attaching member 4 as by means of a hinge structure 8. The center member 9 of the hinge is preferably eccentric in cross section, as best shown in Fig. 2, so that the portion In of the buckle in passing over the portion of greatest eccentricity of the member 9 will assist in holding the buckle in closed position, as best shown in Fig.9.

The fastening member 3 is preferably a piece of fabric tape or leathenone end of which is fastened to'an edge of the shoe or other garment H and the other end' l2 "of which is enlarged and relatively stiff as compared to the flexible body portion of the fastening member. The head portion l2 may be formed'by wrapping the tape around a piece of metal or 'may be formed by reinforced sewing or other means of enlarging or stiffening the head portion.

In operation, the parts I of the buckle being normally held in open position by the portion 9 of the hinge, it will be seen that it is only necessary to grasp hold of the clip or head portion I2 of the flexible tape 3 and insert the same through the aperture in the part I. This having been done, the parts assume the relationship as shown in Fig. 7 with the parts to be fastened 6 and II being relatively loose, such as in the case of a shoe. Now, by rotating the part I about the hinge 8, it will be seen that the tape l3 or sim ilar flexible strap will be placed under tension and the parts 6 and I I moved towards each other.

As the part I of the buckle is moved home into final clamping position, such as shown in Fig. 9, the tension on the portion I3 will be completed, and with the portions 6 and II assuming their relative final fastening positions, the tension upon the'portion I3 is gradual from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the final position shown in Fig. 9; thus the relative tension between the two parts 6 and II increases until the final fastening step which is in direct contrast to most fastening devices where the greatest tension has to be placed upon the two members to be fastened in order to initially assemble the parts of the f astening device and then there is release of the tension upon completion of the buckling or similar fastening operation.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 3, I have provided two apertures, Ia and 1b, each having ends 2a and 211, sothat, as best shown in Fig. 10, the head I2 of the tape or similar fastening member l3 may be inserted in either one of the apertures Ia and lb whereby to obtain different degrees of tension upon the tape I3 and, of course, different degrees of closure between the members 6 and II. It will be understood that in most cases the eccentric formation 9 of the hinge will not be necessary because when the portion I of the buckle is moved to closed position, the arrangement and positioning of the parts will be such as to tend to maintain this closed position until positive opening pressure is placed upon the opening I of the buckle; in other words, the tension placed upon the tape I3 will normally tend to maintain two parts of the buckle in closed parallel relationship.

It will be seen that in the modification illustrated in Fig. 3, a passage 'Ic connects the openings Ia and lb. This passage 'Ic permits the slipping of the flexible strap or fastening member 3 from one opening to the other. It also facilitates the passing of the head I2 of the fastening member through the opening. In the modification shown in Fig. 13, the aperture la in buckle I is provided with a central lateral notch Id which performs thesame function for the single aperture as does the passage 1c of Fig. 3. i

In the modification illustrated in Figs. and 6 I have shown the fastening part of the buckle as being in the form of a pair of hooked shaped members M, which are so shaped as to readily receive the head portion I2 of the fastening member.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 12, the hinge portion I of the buckle is formed on the underside thereof with opposed guide or track members I5 which permit the head I2 of the tape I3 to be slid into position transversely of the buckle, as shown in Fig. 12.

In all the forms shown, it will be seen that the entire fastening action up until completion thereof, is accompanied by an increase in tension upon the flexible fastening member and a drawing together of the parts to be fastened. The material forming the flexible fastening member 3 may, of course, vary considerably and the color of the same may be such as to match the garment or other article being fastened. The metallic or other portion forming a part of the head I2 may be slightly wider than the Width of the tape I3 or may be of the same width, as because of the tapes flexibility the enlarged and relatively stiff head may be inserted through the apertures or hooked members of the buckle, regardless of the relative width of the head member and the tape.

It will be seen that, in each of the forms where the head I2 is passed through an aperture and the tape I3 serves to exert tension on the head, provision of the spaced ends enclosing the apertures Ia or 'Ib maintains the tape member l3 in a flat condition instead of having it wrinkled or buckled upon itself in the transverse section. This isa feature which prevents wear on the tape and also prevents its becoming unsightly from crumpling or wrinkling. One of the greatest wear points on a fastener of this type is in the flexible tape at the edges which contact the buckle. By spacing the retaining ends 2a and 21), at a distance slightly greater than the width of the tape I3 but less than the length of the fastening head, the wear on the edges of the tape I3 is avoided.

What I claim is:

l. A fastening device formed of a plurality of parts and comprising one part including a portion adapted to be secured to one of the members to be fastened and a portion pivotally connected to said first named portion and including means tending to hold said two portions together when brought into substantially parallel adjacent relationship, said second named portion being provided with an elongated aperture, a solid fastening member secured to the other member to be fastened, said solid fastening member being adapted to pass through said aperture longitudinally and being dimensioned such that it Will not ass through said aperture laterally and having a flexible body portion which is placed under constantly increasing tension when said two portions to be fastened are drawn together by the relative movement of said two portions toward adjacent parallel relationship.

2. A fastening device formed of two parts, each part being secured to adjacent members to be fastened, one part comprising a solid fastening head and a flexible body portion and the other part including a pivotally mounted member movable from open to closed position, said pivoted member including an aperture of less size than said head for easily receiving said fastening head in a substantially fixed position when said pivoted member is in open position, said pivotally mounted member being arranged to pivot away from said first mentioned part when moved to closed position, whereby it will place said flexible body portion under constantly increasing tension and bring said members to be fastened into predetermined fastening relationship, and means for holding said pivotal member in closed position when moved thereto.

3. A fastening device formed of two parts, each part being secured to adjacent members to be fastened, one part comprising a fastening head and a flexible body portion and the other part including a pivotally mounted member movable from open to closed position, said pivoted member including a plurality of apertures connected by a relatively small opening for easily receiving said fasteninghead in aplurality of adjustable positions when said pivoted member is in open position, said pivoted member being so arrangedand said apertures holding said head in .fixed position therein that when moved towards closed position it will place said flexible body portion under constantly increasing tension and bring said members to be fastened into predetermined fastened relationship.

4. A fastening device of two parts, each part being secured to adjacent members to be fastened, one part comprising a solid fastening head and flexible body portion, the other part including two members hinged at an adjacent edge whereby they may close upon each other, one of said hinged members beingsecured to one of the members to be fastened, and the other hinged member being provided with one or more apertures for receiving and retaining said solid fastening head, and means for maintaining said hinged members in closed relation after manual positioning thereof whereby said flexible body is placed under constantly increasing tension as the hinged members are'moved to closed relation.

5. A fastening device suitable for garments, shoes and other articles, formed in two parts, each part being secured to one of the members to be fastened, one part consisting of a fastening head and flexible body portion and 'the other part comprising an apertured member for receiving said fastening head, said fastening head being relatively long and narrow and extending transversely of the flexible body portion, and

through the aperture, and one side of said aperture spaced intermediate said end portions being enlarged to permit said fastening head to easily pass longitudinally through said aperture when held at an angle to the plane of said member.

6. A fastening device suitable for garments, shoes and other articles, formed in two parts, each part being secured to one of the members to be fastened, one part consisting of a fastening head and flexible body portion and the other part comprising an apertured member for receiving said fastening head, said fastening head being relatively long and narrow and extending transversely of the flexible body portion which has a width slightly less than the length of said head, and said member forming said aperture having end portions spaced apart a distance less than the length of the fastening head whereby Said head, When assembled in said member and positioned transversely of said body portion, will bear against said end portions forming the aperture to normally keep the fastening head from passing through the aperture.

7. A fastening device suitable for garments,

shoes and other articles, formed in two parts,

each part being secured to one of the members to be fastened, one part consisting of a fastening head and flexible body portion and the other part comprising an apertured member for receiving said fastening head, said fastening head being relatively long and narrow and extending transversely of the flexible body portion which has a width slightly less than the length of said head, andsaid member forming said aperture having end portions spaced apart a distance less than the lengthof the fastening head but slightly greater than the width of said flexible body portion, whereby said head, when assembled in said member and positioned transversely of said body portion, will bear against said end portions forming the aperture to normally keep the fastening head from passing through the aperture.

ANNETTE FRIDOLPI-I. 

